I've been painting and playing Fantasy for the past 3 years, spending much time and money into a hobby that very few people really understand.
This blog is following my steps into the world of Game Workshop's Fantasy and 40k.

Friday, 3 February 2012

1st test pre-tournament with new list.

I tried my new and updated list for a tournament in March involving alot of objective against the Newly released Vampire count.

Tournament is a 2500 pts, 2 days, 6 games mayhem. The special thing about it is that there's little to no comp (only a few special character are not allowed, like Teclis), and to hold an objective you have to be 10 RnF, 3 MI, 3 MC, or a monster.
My *new* list.

The scenario was basically 6 objective, with a unit able to hold 2 max. You lose them only if you flee or die.

On Spell selection, i ended up with fireball, Bonecrusher(DD), Toothcracker(+T), Trollgut(+Regen) and Bloodgruel. He got ; Invocation, Danse Macabre, Gaze of Nagash and Raise Dead.

After Vanguard, I realized made a mistake pretty fast. I knew i could easily beat the Hex Wraith in cc if i ended up with some Static CR, but ended up with my Gnoblar too far from a charge (after his vanguard + movement). We then rolled to see who goes first, and he did.

1st Turn (VC)

Everything move oddly enough, fast forward, keeping his Crypt horror right in front of his mortis engine, pretty much negating any chance to snipe them. His magic phase goes pretty uneventful, raising a few zombie, and nothing else. He failed to do anything to my army.

1st Turn (OK)

Gnoblar facing the hexwraith move straight ahead to the objective. Mournfang, with Hexwraith ahead, decide not to charge (mistake on my part), hoping to get out of the way, but i ended up not able to wheel and move far enough away to get out of the way so i just move up, and hope he'll do less than 2 wounds. All my Sabertusk move forward to block Zombie, Crypt Horror and Terrorgheist (forgot it can fly over it). Gnoblar move ahead too. I turned my Ironguts to face his hexwraith (hoping to DD them to death), but my magic phase does little to nothing. In my shooting phase, 1st cannon hit the Terrorgheist, but roll 1 to wound. 2nd cannon hit him too, and deal 4 wounds. Thuntertusk does a direct hit, but he regens it and stay alive.

2nd turn (VC)

His Hexwraith charge my Mournfang, do 2 wounds, and run me down. His Crypt Horror charge my Gnoblars, beat them, and overrun 8" or so. His Terrorgheist charge my Thundertusk, and with some odd luck, kill it outright (4 wounds from Death Shriek, and 2 from CC, while i did 0). He then turn and face my Ironblaster. After those 3 charge, i was in pretty big problem, having lost 1 mournfang, and my thundertusk (which i was hoping would help against Strogoi). Left Ghoul goes in the building, while the right Ghoul goes ahead. Everything else move forward too. Magic phase, again, didn't do much (actually, it never really was a factor. He got a few spell through, but nothing game breaking).

2nd Turn (OK)

With the Crypt Horror in a bad situation, i charge them with my Mournfang (who were in his flank), and my Ironblaster not facing the Terrogheist, thankfull killing them. What came next is i think the best that could happen ; I wipe the unit clean (just barely) and both overrun, Ironblaster in the Mortis Engine, Mournfang in the Right Ghoul unit. In an attempt to keep him from doing anything too dangerous with Strogoi and his zombie, i decide to charge with my Gnoblar. Stupid? yeah. But in magic phase, i get upgraded Trollgut out on 6 dice, targetting everything. The result of the miscast is a 9, taking a S6 hit on all my caster, regenerating them all. That unit of Gnoblar end up loosing only 3 gnoblar, but still loosing by 2. Rolled enough to stay, and oddly enough, Strogoi do not break a 60 pts units. In my shooting phase, i attempt to shoot down the Terrorgheist, but fail miserably, as he succeed on his regen roll.

3rd turn (VC)

Without much that can be done, he charge my Ironblaster in CC with the mortis with his Corpse Cart, hoping to deal with the T6 monster. I ended up with a tie, since T6 + 4 AS + Regen pretty much negated any attack going my way. His right side Spirit Host try to help the ghoul against my mournfang and charge them in the flank. I end up killing roughly 20 Ghouls with CC and combat resolution. His Terrorgheist charge my Ironblaster, but dies trying to kill it. Hex Wraith, being far from cc, fail to do anything. In Strogoi vs Gnoblar, i finally lose enough to break, and he decide to overrun, somewhat hoping to get in my Ironguts, and removing my impact hit. he actually makes it, and things gets very interesting. Mournfang finish his unit of ghoul, facing his other unit just out of building.

3rd turn (OK)

At this point, i lost 2 unit of gnoblar (sorry, i can't say where my 3rd one went), 2 of my Sabertusk, and a unit of Mournfang. He lost his terrorgheist, a spirit host, and was about to lose a unit of Ghoul. Still didnt look too good, but i was hoping the cc vs Strogoi could swing in my favor with wound allocation and all. With my remaining unit of Mournfang, i charge his Ghoul and grind them down pretty fast, making 12 out of 14 2+ AS Roll. So with everything still within 12", i decide to go for the head and use my 6 dice to cast upgraded Trollgut, getting 24 (no 6s). With his 5 dice, he tries to dispel and FAIL!. So now everything was looking pretty good for me. In CC vs Mortis + Corpse Cart, i win combat by 1, dealing 2 wound and taking 1. (at that point, my Ironblaster was down to his last wound. In the combat vs Strogoi, i place a RnF in front of him, my SM next to him (out of cc from his strogoi), and my Firebelly far from arm. He does, with red fury and all in total, 2 wounds. I hit back, strip his regen (yes, pretty much everyone had regen the whole game thanks to mortis engine) with my firebelly, and manage to kill everything but 15 of his Zombies.

4th Turn (VC)

From here, it was pretty much trying to kill Strogoi as fast as possible, and watch everything dissapear. So that's exactly what happened ; i killed Strogoi, which popped his ghoul, (but not his Hexwraith, who were holding at this point his only 2 objective, and which would survive until the end of the game), his mortis engine (who killed my mournfangs with his crazy death aura).

The remaining of the game was me getting my Ironguts to two objective, ending the game 1500+ VP in my favour, and 3 objective vs 2 (the 6th unable to be held, so contested). In final, it was 17 vs 8 victory in my favor.

What i learned about Vampire Count ;

Hexwraith can be nasty, but anything with static CR will get through them eventually, they do not have enough attacks to be worrysome (except vs unit without static CR, like my mournfangs).

Ghoul, zombie and such can be easily death with Mournfangs. Anything that is S3 is cake, while S4 is doable.

Mortis Engine is very good, and has to be dealt with ASAP. With his big base, i think its possible to snipe him with a cannon, even with a unit in front of him.

Strigoi is a beast, but unless he's with something very durable, just trying to survive his attack with RnF should be enough to allow you to tear through his unit, and hope to grind them down slowly. He can do at best 10 wounds (with just red fury, and no bonus attack from item or spells). In return, Zombie with Ws1 and T3, can be killed with just about anything (yes. even gnoblar).

Corpse Cart is pretty annoying (with his ASF love giving), but nothing to be afraid of.

Hex Wraith are better charged than charging. Had i charged the Hexwraith with my mournfang, all i needed was a poor roll on his part and he was losing (since i already had 2 Static with banner and charge, and a musician). As soon as he lose a guy, its one less CR possible. It's not an easy win, but its alot more doable than getting charged.

Thundertusk, against high strenght and (from what i just learned) vs other monster, is not the best. Without thunderstomp,, he's easily dealth with.

Mortis Engine isnt much of an issue by itself (if you can deal with the regen giving), but if you're late in the game, and he's still standing, DON'T TOUCH IT! everything 12" around him takes 2d6 hits at the strenght the turn you're on is harsh, and can easily finish some weakened units.